No power

Slime

Slime

Slime

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Joined
10 Nov 2006
Posts
555
Hello,

My PC isn't powering on. Was working fine up until I switched it off at 4 this morning but when I got up today it isn't powering on at all. I've tried the paper clip test to see if the PSU is at fault but its powering up ok so I guess that's ruled out. Have also unplugged everything from the motherboard apart from the CPU and cooler and am still getting nothing.

When I switched it on this morning, the lights on the front came on for around half a second before switching off and powering down.

I suspect my motherboard is faulty but wanted to ask if there's anything else I should check before I send it back. I can't see a power led on my motherboard (don't think there is one).

Specs are:

Gigabyte Z77-D3H
i5 3570k
8GB RAM
Enermax 500w PSU
Gelid Tranquillo

Any advice would be appreciated.

Thanks,

:)
 
No joy unfortunately. I want to try and rule out it being the CPU. If I take it apart and remove the CPU and try switching it on, would it try and then beep to indicate no CPU or not even attempt to power on?

edit: Might be worth mentioning that the light on the front of the card reader which is plugged directly into the motherboard is flickering very dimly.
 
Last edited:
Quick update on this. I tried it with a new motherboard which I suspected was the problem but it hasn't fixed it. It tries to power on and shuts down immediately, fans don't even start spinning up properly.

I think that really only leaves me with the CPU or PSU. Is the paper clip test a sure fire way of making sure the PSU works? If the CPU was bust, would it even try and turn on?

Any help would be massively appreciated as I'm almost at my wits end with this :(
 
Do you have a sound card fitted? (might seem like a strange question, but bear with me)

If you do try taking it out and then starting the system up. Sometimes they can cause systems to not boot due to incompatibility.
 
Nope, I'm using the one built in to the motherboard. I've just tried replacing the PSU but it's with a very old 380W Antec thing and it's giving me varying beep codes depending on what's plugged in. Continuous beeps with CPU and 2 x RAM, but 1 long and 3 short with CPU and 1 x RAM. Sooooo confused.
 
1 long, 3 short, is the award bios code for "no video card or vRam error", repeating continuous beeps, are indicative of a memory fault.
 
I'm seriously confused. It's basically got a mind of its own.

I've tested the PSU in another PC and it doesn't work, there's no power whatsoever but it did pass the paper clip test. When I put the old PSU into my current PC, it posts, but with varying errors, depending on what's plugged in. Maybe this is just because it's old and not up to the job, but baring in mind that I've only got memory and CPU plugged in, that's doubtful. It also works fine in an old PC with everything plugged in.

I honestly don't know what to do.
 
If its just an i5 plugged in then a 350w should be able to power it it could just be that the power supply isnt up to scratch or it could be the motherboard. you might be getting posting errors as it cant find any boot devices
 
The motherboard is brand new, I bought it to replace what I thought was a faulty motherboard. I'd be amazed if I've got 2 dodgy motherboards.
 
I think (and hope) this is now resolved. I'm pretty sure my PSU had died but when I fitted my new one, I was still getting the continuous post beeps or nothing on screen when I switched on. I removed one stick of RAM and moved slots and it booted up OK, so tried the other stick and again it started fine, then put both sticks back in the original slots and it worked. Makes no sense at all, one minute it was beeping and not starting and simply removing and reinstalling the RAM into the exact same slots seemed to fix it.

Strange.
 
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